Monthly Archives: April 2014

Phase 3 – Schedule and Availability

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Phase 3 of the Liaden Universe Re-Read will begin next week, on Sunday, April 20.

Phase 3 Schedule

  • 20/4 – “Veil of the Dancer”
  • 21/4 – “Heirloom”
  • 22/4 – “Intelligent Design”
  • 23/4 – “A Matter of Dreams”
  • 24/4 – “Moonphase”
  • 25/4 – Conflict of Honors ch.1
  • 26/4 – “Fighting Chance”
  • 27/4 – “To Cut an Edge”
  • 28/4 – “Shadow Partner”
  • 29/4 – “A Day at the Races”
  • 30/4 – “Certain Symmetry”
  • 1/5 – “This House”
  • 2/5 – Conflict of Honors ch.2-50
  • 18/6 – “Changeling”
  • 19/6 – Fledgling
  • 31/7 – Saltation ch.1-32
  • 1/9 – “Landed Alien”

This schedule for this phase contains two deviations from standard novel reading. Conflict of Honors has a gap of several years between chapters near the beginning and Saltation has a gap of several years between chapters near the end, with, in each case, other stories taking place during the gap. The schedule for each of these novels is thus: read up to the gap, read the stories that take place during the gap, resume reading the novel. (In the case of Conflict of Honors, this also allows grouping together the three stories-or-chapters that together tell the tale of why Priscilla left home.)

You are, of course, free to ignore this and read both novels in whatever way makes you most comfortable.

Availability

The novels in Phase 3 are Conflict of Honors, Fledgling, and Saltation.

Conflict of Honors is currently in print as part of a Baen collected edition titled The Dragon Variation, which is also available as an e-book. (Baen also offers the old separate e-book edition of Conflict of Honors.)

Fledgling is in print in a standalone edition, which is also available as a free e-book from the Baen Free Library. (There’s also a non-free e-book, which includes bonus Making-Of material.)

Saltation is in print in a standalone edition, which is also available as an e-book.

The short stories in Phase 3 are “Veil of the Dancer”, “Heirloom”, “Intelligent Design”, “A Matter of Dreams”, “Moonphase”, “Fighting Chance”, “To Cut an Edge”, “Shadow Partner”, “A Day at the Races”, “Certain Symmetry”, “This House”, “Changeling”, and “Landed Alien”.

“Landed Alien” may be read (free) on Baen’s website, or in the (also free) Free Short Stories 2012 e-book.

If you have some or all of the Adventures in the Liaden Universe® chapbooks put out by SRM Publisher, “Veil of the Dancer” is in #9 (Quiet Knives), “Heirloom” is in #8 (Shadows and Shades), “Intelligent Design” is in #19 (Legacy Systems), “A Matter of Dreams” is in #7 (Loose Cannon), “Moonphase” is in #2 (Fellow Travelers), “Fighting Chance” is in #12 (Allies), “To Cut an Edge” and “A Day at the Races” are in #1 (Two Tales of Korval), “Shadow Partner” is in #14 (Eidolon), “Certain Symmetry” is in #4 (Certain Symmetry), “This House” is in #10 (With Stars Underfoot), and “Changeling” is in #6 (Changeling).

The chapbooks are out of print now, but they’re all available in e-book form via Pinbeam Books, whose Adventures in the Liaden Universe® page is also a convenient reference for which story is where.

Baen offers two sets of Liaden Universe short story collections; if you don’t have any of the chapbooks already, these may be a more efficient option than obtaining individual issues.

The old set, available only as e-books, are Liaden Unibus I and Liaden Unibus II, which collect #1-6 (including “Moonphase”, “To Cut an Edge”, “A Day at the Races”, “Certain Symmetry”, and “Changeling”) and #7-12 (including “Veil of the Dancer”, “Heirloom”, “A Matter of Dreams”, “Fighting Chance”, and “This House”) respectively.

The new set, available in print and e-book form, are A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume One and A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume Two, which collect #1-8 (including “Heirloom”, “A Matter of Dreams”, “Moonphase”, “To Cut an Edge”, “A Day at the Races”, “Certain Symmetry”, and “Changeling”) and #9-17 (including “Veil of the Dancer”, “Fighting Chance”, “Shadow Partner”, and “This House”) respectively.

For searching out second-hand print editions, the authors’ web site recommends Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore, The Missing Volume, and White Unicorn Books.

(And, incidentally: The song “This House” that inspired the short story “This House” is from Janis Ian’s 1993 album Breaking Silence.) [warning: link leads to page with auto-playing audio]

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 36

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In which Korval welcomes Nova yos’Galan.

There are some lovely little character details in this chapter; nearly everybody who appears gets at least one.

There’s also one big thing, the demonstration of Pat Rin’s ability to influence dice, which is particularly striking because, as far as I can remember, it’s not so much as hinted at anywhere else in the series. Of course, the series is still growing, and Pat Rin hasn’t appeared for more than a cameo in anything written since Mouse and Dragon, so perhaps this will be followed up some time in future; I look forward to that with interest. I also look forward with interest to re-reading his appearances that were written before this, to see if there were hints I didn’t pick up on or events that might now be seen in a different light. In particular, on thinking back over the scenes I can remember of Pat Rin as an adult, I seemed to find something which I look forward to seeing verified: that for all the time Pat Rin spends gaming, it’s rarely or even never in games that involve him handling dice. In the light of this scene it might be that he actively avoids games where his knack would give him a unique advantage, which actually fits with my understanding of his character.

Tomorrow is the short story “Guaranteed Delivery”, because chronological order, with Mouse and Dragon resuming the day after.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 35

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In which Aelliana and Daav welcome Val Con yos’Phelium into the world.

Again, if things had been otherwise than they are, this might well have been where the book ended. But as things are, there are still places for the book to go, and the conversation at the beginning of the chapter reminds us that although the immediate issue of Daav’s abduction has been resolved, the underlying problem continues.

Aelliana and Daav’s shared vision of themselves as dragons flying together clearly owes something, somehow, to the Tree; it reminds me of “Dragon Tide”, and of the way the Tree used to visualise Cantra and Jela.

The other interesting thing about that shared experience is the way it’s mentioned as having strengthened their bond into something solid and ineluctable; one wonders whether subsequent events might have been different if Aelliana had allowed the Healer to send Daav away.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 34

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In which Delmae Korval acts for the best good of the clan.

This chapter shows Aelliana settling into her new role, and showing that she is as capable of taking decisive and appropriate action to protect her clan as to protect her ship. (I don’t seem to have anything clever or original to say on this theme, but I would have been remiss not to mention it.)

It’s also a bit of a showcase for Daav and Clarence being Totally Not Friends, Honestly.

One of the things about re-reading the series and taking notes is that I’m paying more attention to the incidental characters, which is how I come to notice that Ongit’s restaurant is run by “the elder Mr Ongit” and “the second Mr Ongit”. (I can think of three possible interpretations without really trying, and no doubt there are more.)

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 33

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In which Daav decides to go into a possibly-hostile port without accepting backup.

Had this book been other than it is, the previous chapter might easily have been the last, perhaps with an epilogue in which Daav finally gets to hold his son in his arms. It is, after all, what the main plot line was building up to for the last two volumes.

But this is a prequel, which knows if any form of literature does that Peter Beagle was right about endings, and getting married isn’t the end of the story; it just means that Daav and Aelliana now have attention to spare for what else is going on in their lives.

I see a parallel between Daav’s decision to go to the Low Port alone, declining backup, and Aelliana’s decision last novel to go to the house of Mizel alone, declining backup, though in this case I’m not sure the decision is wrong; Daav does have a point about the advantages of working alone and under the radar. Still, one can wish he could have gone better protected. (Perhaps another Scout might have worked, if there were another Scout he could trust with this business. It’s a pity that Clonak is not available to be suggested as a possibility.)

Daav’s deliberately exaggerated worst-case hypothesis of “ghosts who lure the unsuspecting into the mists and steal their self-will” is not, after all, so far from the truth as one might prefer.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 32

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In which the lives, the hearts, and the souls of Daav yos’Phelium and Aelliana Caylon are joined.

Did I say Kareen’s schemes had gone flat? I think “flat” is not sufficient; they have not only gone flat, they’ve sunk so deep into the ground as to be a convenient height to be used as stepping stones. The end result of all Kareen’s scheming has been to smooth Aelliana’s path.

Apart from that, I have (as apparently is becoming traditional for this point in each Liaden novel) not much else to say except “Yes!”.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 31

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In which some people have a better time than others at Lady Kareen’s gather.

Kareen’s attempt to show Aelliana up in polite company falls completely flat, partly due to Lady yo’Lanna having taken her under her wing, but also in large part to Aelliana’s own actions preceding her; even people she’s never met know and respect her. And when Kareen abandons that course of action and hurries on to the sequel of introducing her to Daav’s former wife-to-be, that if anything falls even flatter. (And it strikes me that Kareen might have been able to foresee much of this outcome if she’d made an honest attempt to get to know Aelliana, or even just to learn about Aelliana, instead of writing her off as an obstacle. But then, of course, she wouldn’t have wanted to try to show Aelliana up in the first place.)

If I recall correctly, we will eventually see Scholar yo’Vestra again in “Daughter of Dragons”, the short story that gives Lady Kareen her day in the limelight. My memory is not entirely certain on this point, but I do recall that the story includes a scholar who is Lady Kareen’s colleague and close friend, and at the risk of doing her a disservice I have to observe that the number of Lady Kareen’s close friends doesn’t seem to be large.

I like Delm Guayar, both as a person and as an example of the authors’ craft; even on a short acquaintance, the family resemblance to Clonak is unmistakeable.

The narrator says of Samiv tel’Izak that she is “young enough to perhaps be Bindan’s daughter”, which reminds me that I don’t think we’ve ever been told what their actual relationship is. In contrast to Daav, who relates to his clan members as their kinsman first and their delm only when necessary, we’ve never seen Gath tel’Izak be anybody else to Samiv except her delm.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 30

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In which Aelliana proposes a solution.

Once again it’s Aelliana who gets to make the decisive move instead of Daav swooping in and rescuing her. (I may be labouring this point a bit. But seriously, how many novels are there where that happens?)

I am particularly interested by the part of Aelliana’s proposal which has her paying the blood-price for Ran Eld’s death when Sinit becomes Delm. There are several things going on here. For one, it gives Mizel an inducement to accept Sinit as nadelm, where her mother’s actions have cast doubt on the hope that she might accept as much simply because it’s the sensible course. It also serves a practical purpose in ensuring that when Sinit becomes delm there will be an amount of money she can rely on, no matter how the clan’s fortunes may have suffered in the mean time. There’s also some shifty work going on with the melant’i of the situation. I still don’t think that Aelliana truly owes Mizel anything for Ran Eld’s death, but by accepting the blood-price as her debt she’s making sure Mizel can’t try to stick it to anybody else (such as Daav); and by specifying that the payment will be made to Birin Caylon’s successor, the result will be that Birin Caylon gets the promise of an apology but never the apology itself.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 29

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In which Daav keeps himself busy with a day of consultations.

I’m not sure Daav’s explanation isn’t partly backward; he says that Mizel wouldn’t want to make an alliance with someone she blames for her son’s death, but I suspect on some level she’s chosen to forego an alliance with Korval so that she can blame Daav. There are other people who might be more fairly considered responsible for Ran Eld’s death, starting with Ran Eld himself, but they all have the disadvantage that Birin Caylon has to live with them every day; much more comforting to be able to blame someone who will shortly return to a distant orbit and remain out of sight and out of mind.

(“He was not the disrupter of the dance, but he was the only one of those new and uneasy things that they could dispose of without tearing still further the already riven fabric of their lives.”)

Incidentally, if Daav’s estimate of Mr dea’Gauss’s age is accurate, Mr dea’Gauss is about the same age as Lady Kareen and Luken bel’Tarda.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 28

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In which there is a Mouse in Aelliana’s new lodgings.

This is in some ways a chapter of pausing and taking stock of where things stand, with Master Kestra delivering her assessment of how far Aelliana has developed since they last met, and Aelliana telling Mouse the cat what she has learned about being a mouse.

I like the description of Mouse’s attitude when he first appears, which, speaking as one whose family has always had cats, strikes a very familiar chord: “There was something about the long muzzle that suggested at least temporary resignation; the very tippiest tip of the scruffy tail was twitching. Slowly.”